The Shirley Industrial School
for Boys was a part of this town from 1909 - 1972 and
was the topic of the Shirley Historical Society meeting on Friday, May
11, 2001. Ray Farrar who worked at the school and Joe Landry
whose
father worked there attended the meeting and were video taped sharing
their
stories. Other former workers and State School "boys" have
contacted
the Museum and we have added their memories to our files.

In 1908, the Shirley Shaker Community had only three Shaker sisters,
900 acres of land and twenty-six buildings. The Shaker Central
Ministry
decided to close the community, sell the property, and have the sisters
move to the Harvard Shaker Village. The state of Massachusetts
bought
the Shaker property for an Industrial School for Boys, what we now call
a reform school. This industrial school was to take boys ages 15
- 20 and give them a house mother and a house father, give them
academic
schooling, and teach them manners and a trade. The farmland and
large
old Shaker buildings were well suited to these purposes and were
promptly
fitted out with modern conveniences.

The Shirley Historical Society has census records for 1920, 1930,
and 1940 listing the names of people who lived on the state property.
It gives their ages and marital status, place of birth, and parents'
places of birth, but not much else. The records of the boys would have
been kept private by the state of Massachusetts.

As the boys came to live at Shirley, the teachers, craftsman, office
workers, and officials came to work here. Many of them lived
right
on the property and later bought homes in the town of Shirley.
Following
are the workers' names that we have gathered at this time.

Meredith Marcinkewicz, curator at the Shirley Historical Society, is
trying to gather additional information on the Industrial School.
She has photos of ISB buildings and many news articles about the
Industrial
School. She has a sign, a chair, and candle sticks which were
made
at the school. She would love to hear from other people who lived and
worked
there.
She will be at the Historical Society Museum (978-425-9328)
at #182 Center Road, Shirley, from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. most
Saturdays
and Mondays and invites anyone with pictures or stories to share to
stop
by.
Or - they may write her at Shirley Historical Society, PO Box 217,
Shirley,
MA 01464, or email her at
mail@shirleyhistory.org